Stringed musical instrument



F. X. AUDET. DECD.

M. F. AUDET, ADMINISTRATRIX.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT;

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 11, 19M. RENEWED JUNE 3, I919.

1,320,523. Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

7 2 SHEETSSHEET I.

F. X. AUDET, DECD.

M. F. AUDET. ADMINISTRATRIX.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILE'D JAN-17,1914- RENEWED JUNE 3,1919.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS K. AUDET, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; MARY F. AUDET, ADMINISTRATRIX 0F SAID FRANCIS X. AUDET, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHONOHARP COMPANY, OF EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

STRINGED MUSICAL IN STRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

Application filed January 17, 1914, Serial No. 812,787. Renewed June 3, 1919. Serial No. 301,537.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS X. AUDET, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stringed Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to stringed musical instruments of the harp or zither type, and more particularly to instruments of this type provided with a so-called action or key-board arrangement in which all or a portion of the strings can be struck by means of manually operated hammers or keys. Certain features of the invention, however, are not limited to an instrument provided with an action or key-board.

The objects of the invention are to produce an instrument of the type above referred to which is strong, rigid and durable which has a loud, clear and pleasing tone, and in which the parts composing the action are constructed and arranged in a simplified and improved manner.

With the above objects in view the present invention consists in the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description.

The several features of the present invention will be clearly understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a plan view of an instrument embodying the several features of the invention in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the instrument taken on a line passing just above the action portion of the instrument, as illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the action portion of the instrument; and Fig. 4 is a view in front or end elevation partly broken away of the portion of the instrument illustrated in Fig. 3.

The instrument illustrated in the drawings comprises a sounding board 1, a back board 2, longitudinal internal braces 3, 4, 5, suitable end braces at the ends of the instrument of which the forward end brace is indicated at 6 in Fig. 3, string bridges 7, 8,

9, and 10 at the front and rear ends of the instrument above the end internal brace strlps, and suitably tuned strings passing over the brides 7, 8, 9 and 10. As illustrated in the drawings, the strings of the instrument are arranged in two sets or groups, the group at the left hand side of the instrument, indicated at 11, being tuned in close harmonic relation so as to form a chord section, and the group at the right hand side of the instrument, indicated at 12, being tuned in regular order to the notes of the chromatic scale and forming a melody section. In each section the strings are ar ranged in intersecting planes. In the chord section the base strings are in one plane and the strings which cooperate with the base strings to form chords are in another plane, while in the melody section the strings tuned to the naturals .are in one plane, while the strings tuned to the sharps and Hats are in another plane. In the chord section the chords are arranged in the alternate major and minor third relation, fully described in my prior Patent N0. 930,825, August 10, 1909, while the crossing of the strings of the two planes at the desired point is secured by means of a bridge indicated at 13 which rests on the sounding board between the end bridges, and over'and under which the base and cooperating chord strings pass. The crossing of the strings of the melody section is also secured by a bridge 14 resting on the sounding board and corresponding to the bridge 13 of the chord section. The crossing of the strings at the desired'point is also facilitated in both sections by supplying the bridges 8 and 10 with rests at difierent levels, over which the strings in the two planes pass, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

In order to permit the use of comparatively small or light longitudinal brace strips 3, 4, and 5, which is obviously desirable in an instrument of this type, and still provide an extremely rigid, strong and .durable instrument, external longitudinal brace strips 15, 16 and 17 are provided, the

of the chord section rises somewhat above the level of the strings throughout the greater portion of their length and thus forms a convenient rest for the hand which plays the chord section, in addition to strengthening the instrument and permit ting the use of a small internal brace strip 3.

The use of a string bridge such as 13 or 1 1 which rests directly upon the sounding board where it is unsupported by a cross brace is obviously a desirable feature in instruments of this type. The excessive pressure of the bridge upon the sounding board, however, due to the great tension on the strings passin over the bridge has heretofore rendered the use of such a bridge difficult or impracticable. In the instrument illustrated in the drawings the practical use of such a bridge is made possible by extending the bridge so that its ends rest upon the sounding board above the internal brace strips. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the bridge 13 rests at its ends above the internal brace strips 3 and 1, while the bridge 1% rests at its ends above the internal brace strips a and 5. To permit the bridges. 13 and 1 1 to extend over the internal brace strips the external brace strips 15., 16 and 17 are made somewhat narrower than the internal brace strips.

The action portion of the instrument illustrated in the drawings is arranged above the strings of the melody section and is supported by and between the external brace strips 16 and 17. The principal feature of this action consists of a series of hammers, one of which is indicated at 18, Fig. 3. These hammers are arranged side by side across the instrument and a hammer is provided for each note of the melody section. Each hammer is provided with a body portion from which a finger key 19 projects and to which is secured a spring strip 20 provided at its outer end with a striking head 21. The entire hammer comprising the body, finger key, spring strip and striking head, therefore, constitutes in effect a single self-contained part which obviously is extremely simple and durable in construction, and efficient in operation. The hammers are supported in the instrument by means of a supporting bar 22 which extends between the external brace strips 16 and 17 and which is provided near its rear upper ecge with a pivot bar or rod forming a bearing for the hammer. Each hammer is provided with an open notch, as indicated in Fig. 3, which engages the rod 23 so that the hammer is pivotally supported on the rod in such a manner as to be readily removable. This manner of mounting the hammers permits any hammer to be removed separately for adjustment or repairs without disturbing any of the other hammers. The hammers are held securely in position in engagement with the rod 23 by means of a cross bar bearing upon the upper surface of the hammers above the pivot bar, as indicated in Fig. 3. This bar 2st forms a portion of a folding music rack to be hereinafter described.

The finger keys 19 forwardly extend over the supporting bar 22 and are, except as hereinafter stated, arranged as in the ordinary piano key-board, as Will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 3, the finger keys corresponding to the sharps and flats being raised above and located between the finger keys of the natural notes. The spring strips 20 carrying the striking heads 21 extend forwardly underneath the hammer support and when any hammer is depressed the spring strip is carried down into a position in which the head 21 will vibrate and strike its corresponding string a series of blows or taps to produce a tremolo effect. The downward movement of the finger key is limited and the lowermost position of the spring strip 20 is determined by the contact of the finger key with the upper surface of the support 22, or a felt butler pad 25 on the upper surface of the support. To the lower surface of each hammer near its rear end a piece of felt 26 is secured, which contacts with the string corresponding to the key and limits the upward movement of the finger key and strip 20 when the finger key is released and acts as a damper for the string. To stop the vibration of the spring strip 20 when the finger key is released a felt pad 27 is provided on the forward edge of the hammer support 22 which is arranged to engage the spring strip between the hammer body and the striking head, and thus damp the vibration of the strip. By arranging the strip 2'7 to engage the strip 20 intermedi ate its ends instead of at its outer end near the striking head 21, deflection of the strip 20 when the hammer is in. normal position is prevented and the spring strip is moved with the finger key without any lost motion, the instant the finger key is depressed. A hand rest 28 is provided at the front end of the instrument extending over the striking heads 21 and in order to prevent noise occasioned by the contact of the heads with the under surface of the rest 28 a suitable buffer strip 29 is-provided' on the under surface of the rest 28.

In playing the melody section of the instrument the performers hand rests upon the rest 28 and inasmuch as the finger keys 19 of the hammers extend from the pivot bar 23 toward the rest the finger keys in being depressed move in line with the natural finger movement, that is, in an oblique line extending downwardly toward thehand of the performer. The parts indicated at 36 are braces or partitions arranged bedicated in Fig. 3.

- sounding tween the keys for the strings corresponding to E and F, and between B and C, of the scale. They strengthen the action portion of the instrument, and serve to separate the keys referred to, so as to prevent their being operated together 'by accident.

The folding music rack hereinbefore referred to comprises a board 30 provided with a ledge 31. The board 30 extends across and above the body portions of the hammers and is secured to bars 3:2 pivotally mounted on the pivot bar 23. The rear edge of the board 30 is detachably connected by hooks 33 and eyes 33*, to one edge of a board 34:, the other edge of which is hinged to a board 35 extendin between the external brace strips 16 and 1 The position of the music rack when in use is in- When the rack is in folded down position the hooks 33 are disengaged from eyes 33*, board 34 is swung back and down, and the board 30' rests upon the body portions of the hammers and holds the hammers against movement so that the hammers cannot be played upon, or become disarranged or dislodged when the instrument is carried about.

The bar 24: hereinbefore referred to for holding the hammers in engagement with the pivot bar 23 is removably secured to the side bars 32 of the folding music rack. WVhen this bar is removed any hammer can be readily taken from the instrument and replaced without disturbing any of the other hammers.

claimed is 1. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having in combination, a sounding board, a set of strings above the board, a series of hammers mounted above the strings, and a folding music rack above the hammers adapted when in folded down position to hold the hammers against movement.

2. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having in combination, a series of strings, a series of pivotally mounted hammers above the strings, having vibratory heads, means for supporting the hammers, and means normally preventing detachment of the hammers but removable to permit each hammer to be readily removed separately.

3. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a series of strings, a series of pivotally mounted hammers above the strings, and

a pivot for pivotally supporting the hammers, each hammer comprising a body, a spring trip secured to the body below said support and provided with a striking head, and a finger key on the same side of the pivot with the striking head and located above the pivot.

4. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a series of strings, a series of pivotally mounted hammers above the strings and means for supporting the hammers, each hammer comprising a body, a spring strip secured to the body provided with a striking head, and a finger key, said finger keys being arranged with those for the sharps and flats in a higher plane than that of the other keys as in the ordinary piano keyboard.

5. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a series of strings, a series of hammers above the strings, each provided with a notch, a pivot bar to engage the notches in the hammers, and a bar parallel to the first-mentioned, to hold the hammers in position with their notches in engagement therewith.

6. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a series of strings, a series of pivotally mounted hammers above the strings and a supporting bar for the hammers, each hammer comprising a body, a spring strip provided with a striking head projecting from the body beneath said supporting bar, and a finger key projecting from the body above said supporting bar.

7. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a sounding board, a set of strings, a pair of brace strips extending longitudinally of the strings upon the exterior of the sounding board to reinforce the latter, a hammer support arranged above the strings and sup ported by said brace strips, and a series of hammers pivotally mounted on said hammer support and provided with spring-supported striking heads.

8. A stringed musical instrument of the harp or zither type, having, in combination, a series of strings, a transverse pivot bar, above and intermediate the ends of the strings, a series of hammers pivoted on said bar, each hammer comprising a forwardly extending finger key, and a headed spring strip secured to the hammer below the key and projecting forwardly toward the front end of the instrument.

FRANCIS X. AUDET.

Witnesses LEON NEWMAN, SEBASTIAN MARTOCCI.

Copiet of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

